Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-05-06
epitaph: "Here lies the victim Of H..
in associntinnsin otsSl

Another test by which Won
whether your secret society is ,aa =
wrong is the effect it has on von. tight
occupation. lean understand how nsecoll
an institution, a man can reach co,slsooa
success. l know some men hava eaesd
their best business relations thronott' tsa
a channel. If the secret SOCIETY !, sud
vantaged you in an honorable callin NUS
q good one. But has your credit r.
Are bargain makers more anxious bo 1als1
trust you with a bale of goods? HG.Ss1l1
men whose names were down in th asa
mercial agency Al before they ent as sea
society been going down since in co1so
cial standing? Then look out. YOU aa
every day know of commercial es,at aaq
ments going to ruin through the sasa
excuses of one n two members sWa
fortune beaten to death with bali. NY a
bat or cut a%midships with the front r.ase1
the regatta, or going down under tho mo y
hoofs of the fast horses, or drowned ~
large potntions of cognac or Mononoall
That secret society was the Locbe ~
Their business was the Vile dn ~
They struck, and the Vile du Hoy,na sS
under!
The third test by which you NAV !,
whether the society to which you BELOW
good or bad is this: What is its eAss1
your sense of moral and religions ohI;,
ton? Now, if I should take the namas
all the people in this audience this nv.
ing and put them on . roll, and tbss
should lay that roll back of this orpa my
100 years from now some ono shonla II
that roll and call it from A to Y NJ
would not one of You answer. say,
any society that makes me forget thu, \
is a bad society. When I go to Cbicsa
am sometimes perplexed at Buffalo,
suppose many travellers are, as 10 viii
it is better to take the Lake Shore rons
the Michigan Central, equally exped;t
and equally safe, getting to their des,;
ton at the same time. But Suppose tS1
hear that on one route the track is torn
the bridges are down and the switches
unlocked, it will not take me a great Nj
to decide which road to take.
Now, here are two roads in the futu1
the Christian and the unchristian. the
and the unsafe. Any institution q,
association that ~confuses my ideas in
gard to that fact is q bad institution an
bad association. l had prayers befon
Joined that society, did 1 have them oA
ward? I attended the house of God bel
1 connected myself with that union,
absent myself from religious inhuend
Which would you rather have in your
when you come to die-a pack of card]
q Bible? Which would you rather
pressed to your lips in the closing
ment-the cup of Belshazzarean wa9
or the chalice of Christian commun3
Who would you rather have for Your !
or the companions whose conversation
full of slang and innuendo? Who vi
you rather have for your eternal COM
ions-those men who spend their even
betting, gambling, swearing, caroud
and telling vile stories, or your little cA
that bright girl whom the Lord took?
you would not have been away so d
nights, would you, If you had known
was going away S soon? Dear me,
house has never been the same
since. Your wife has never Frightened
she has never got over it. She never
get over it. How long the evenings
with 40 n to put to bed, and no %
whom to tell the beautiful Bible stori4
What q pity it is that you cannot
more evenings at home in trying to
her bear that sorrow. You can never ID
that grief in the wine cup. You can d
break away from the little arms that
to be flung around your neck whel
used to say: "Papa, do stay with md
night. Do stay with me tonight
will never be able to wipe away from
lips the dying kiss of your little girl.
fascination of q bad secret society
great that sometimes a man has turned
back on his home when his child was d
of scarlet fever. He went away. ID
he got back at midnight the eyes had
closed, the undertaken had done his
and the wife, worn out with three I'd
watching, lay unconscious in the
room. Then the returned father G
upstairs, and he sees the cradle gone
the windows up. and says: "Whati
matter?" On the judgment day be
find out what was the matter?
Oh, man astray, God help you!
going to make q very stout rope.
know that sometimes a rope-maker
take very small threads and wind
together until after q while they bed
ship cable. And I am going to take
very small, delicate threads and wind
together until they make a very stout
/ will take all the memories of the
riage day-a thread of laughter, a thre
light, a thread of music, a thread Of
quoting, a thread of congratulation,
twist them together and I have one st4
Then l take o thread of the houI
the first advent in your house,
thread of the darkness that preceded,
a thread of the light that followed; a1
thread of the beautiful scarf that
child used to wear when she bounded
at eventide to greet you; and then all
of the beautiful dress in which you
her away for the resurrection; and th
twist all the threads together, and
another strand. Then 1 take q thres
the scarlet robe of a suffering Christ,
a thread of white raiment Of your
ones before the throne. and a string Q
harp cherubic, and a string of the heart
phic, and | will twist them all together,
have q third strand. "Oh," you
"either strand is enough TO hold "a
world" No; I will take these strands
L will twist them together, and one
THAR ope 1 will fasten, not to the comma
table. for it shall be removed; n0
pillar of the organ, for that will cru
IN the ages; but 1 wind it round and
the cross of q sympathizing Christ,
having fastened one end of the rope \
cross. throw the other end to you.
hold OF it! Pull for your life! Pu
Heaven!
l. Once in the life of every maj
hears the seven whistlers' call.
are Stranpa hir1o m whom mortal